A pound of mercury occupies about the same amount of space as a golf ball.

"It wasn't just a small amount that you spill on a floor. It was in a room in a building, throughout the building in a driveway, a very long driveway at the treatment plant and then again at this facility here too, towards a dumpster area," Marylynn Lodor, deputy director of the Metropolitan Sewer District said.

"We've estimated that we've collected about 35 pounds. The remaining is most likely still l contained in the flow meters," Lodor said.

MSD's deputy director said the spill came from nine flow meters that were being cleaned out of a storage room at the Little Miami Wastewater Treatment Plant on June 22.

She said construction workers were supposed to empty the mercury out of them when they were stored, so the workers who moved them didn't know to handle them with care.

WLWT News 5 learned Friday the workers have not been disciplined. The workers' actions are still being reviewed.

They also didn't know the mercury had come from the flow meters until they were already dumped at Rumkpe's landfill.

"We want to make sure we're doing the right thing for the protection of public health and the environment but also we are cognizant of the costs incurred here and the importance that we do this right," Lodor said.

MSD officials estimate the mercury is still spread out over an acre at the Rumpke landfill in Colerain Township. MSD officials couldn't give us an estimated dollar amount as far as what that could cost to clean up, but they say they're meeting with Ohio EPA officials next week to get the a plan in place.

It appears ratepayers will have to foot the bill for the cleanup unless other parties are found responsible for the spill and, therefore, asked to pay up.

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